Allow charities to do their work free from political harassment, and modernize the rules governing the charitable and not-for-profit sectors.

What success looks like

A transparent and rules-based legal framework for Canada's charities is in place and charities in Canada are free from political harassment.

Government's narrative on progress

In September 2016, the government launched a consultation process with the charitable sector and the public to assist in clarifying the rules for political activities of charities. A consultation panel reviewed the submissions and presented the Minister of National Revenue with recommendations in late March 2017. As a first step to respond to the Panel’s recommendations, the government suspended all actions in relation to the remaining audits and objections that were part of the Political Activities Audit Program. Consistent with recommendation no. 3 of the consultation panel, the government introduced in Bill C-86 amendments to the *Income Tax Act* to remove the quantitative limits on political activities by charities. These amendments received Royal Assent on December 13, 2018. On January 21, 2019, the Canada Revenue Agency issued, for public consultation, draft guidance to explain how it expects to administer these new rules. As announced in the 2018 Fall Economic Update, the government is also establishing a permanent Advisory Committee on the Charitable Sector to provide recommendations to the Minister of National Revenue and Commissioner of the Canada Revenue Agency on important and emerging issues facing charities and qualified donors on an ongoing basis. On March 7, 2019, the Minister of National Revenue responded to the Panel’s report, giving a brief description of the actions taken by the government to address each of the report’s four recommendations.

Note: this is the government's own description, not an independent assessment.